The Tango of Tomorrow, Today!
by happy5214
Summary: CHAPTER 1 UP! Isabella's perfect record in the Danville Annual Junior Dancing Contest is in jeopardy after her tango partner ruins his knee. Only Phineas can save the day. Only problem: Phineas and Isabella aren't on speaking terms. But as they train together, will they re-discover their feelings for each other? And will they win the contest? Phinbella, obviously. With Pikatwig.


Another Christmas, another fan-fic. This story, in development since 2014, is another co-production between me and my brother, Pikatwig. This was originally a oneshot, a rather long one at that, but I split it into two chapters because of that length, and because we probably wouldn't have finished the second part by tomorrow. ;) We also had a decent split point, so that helped the decision.

This is our attempt at doing a dance competition involving Phineas and Isabella, with the twist being that they aren't on speaking terms at the start. The obvious result follows. This story is pretty predictable, but I hope you'll enjoy the descriptive and humorous writing. Enjoy.

Tis the season for giving. But that does not include giving money to Disney, Dan and Swampy, or anyone else associated with the production of _Phineas and Ferb_ as a result of lawsuits. I will give credit though, and say that I don't own anything owned by any of the aforementioned parties. Thank you for giving us a show that is wonderful and amazing, and for giving us plenty of material on which to base Phinbella fics.

* * *

The midday summer sun stood high up in its place in the sky. The calm of the high noon was pierced by the siren of an ambulance racing away from a dance studio. Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, three-time defending champion of the Danville Annual Junior Dancing Contest, watched as the vehicle sped off. The ambulance was carrying her tango partner to the hospital, where a knee reconstruction was likely coming. There was no chance he could dance with Isabella in this year's competition, which was just a week away.

"Just great! Your big unbeaten streak is in total jeopardy, Isabella," the dance champion told herself, twirling her hair in thought and trying to think of anyone who could help her. The only two boys who came to mind were a boy who hardly ever spoke and a boy she couldn't stand. They used to be her best friends, but something happened years ago that changed everything. It was a long story that would always replay in her mind whenever she thought of them, but she didn't have much of a choice. Thus Isabella started the journey back to the scene of her former self's summer life. The setting of her destination brought a nostalgic feeling to her, and she began to slow her pace down to take it all in.

"Okay, Isabella. Just ask him to be my dance partner. How hard can this be?" After a few moments, she finally gathered herself enough to open the gate to the backyard.

* * *

It was a nice day to sit under the shade of a great pine tree, as one Ferb Fletcher was currently doing, simply enjoying a nice and slow breeze on a warm, not not, Saturday afternoon. In a pocket of his pale shirt was a soda can, with a bendy straw leading up to his mouth; it was a nice and rather simple idea for him and his step-brother, Phineas. Ferb just couldn't help but notice that Phineas' ideas had grown to be less, well, inspired over the years, and Ferb had always theorized it was due to one certain member of their group leaving. And just as he had that thought...

"Ferb?"

As had always been the case, Ferb responded with a silent gaze. Isabella's sudden appearance in his backyard startled him, since this was the first time they had seen each other in a couple of years. The circumstances of her presence could have been better.

"My dreams of winning the biggest dance competition of the year are over! My tango partner tore up his knee, and I can't find a replacement! Losing is one thing, but losing by forfeit?"

Ferb hatched a plan to give her the dance partner she needed. "I have an idea! Why don't—"

"Perfect! You're a master dancer, so you can replace him!"

This was not even close to what Ferb had in mind, and he quickly explained to her who he thought should dance with her.

"Phineas? You've got to be kidding me, right!? After what he did to me, why should I rest my junior dance competition hopes on that… that… backstabber?"

"Because..."

"Because why!?"

"Because."

"Again, why?"

"Just because," Ferb responded.

Isabella stood there silently for a few moments, then shrugged, "You are very good at debate! I guess debate camp all those summers ago really helped."

Ferb just blinked and walked away.

* * *

"So… Isabella's dance partner is injured, and you want me to dance with her in his place?" Phineas asked, as he was eating lunch. Ferb simply gave a thumbs up, with Phineas simply looking rather hesitant.

"Honestly, I do not know why it is you two aren't friends anymore… I was away at debate camp again. So why is it you two aren't friends anymore?" Ferb inquired.

The triangle headed boy looked over to the boy that looked like a wrench, Phineas knowing perfectly well that his step-brother would not leave without an answer.

"Is it honestly that important?" Phineas inquired of Ferb, who just blinked for a few minutes, before nodding.

"Honestly… I couldn't tell you," Phineas admitted, "One day she just blew up at me and we drifted apart ever since,"

Ferb simply blinked at this, knowing full well why this was. It was Phineas's obliviousness that had somehow caused this.

"Mind me posing the question of what happened the day that she, er, 'blew up at you'?" Ferb asked his step-brother, even though he would pose said question regardless of the response.

"Uh… uh… wh-wh-wh-why do you wanna know? Why is it even important… uh… this is a good lunch we got here. And uh… I uh… heard this cool new game for the GameStation 7 came out today and… and uh… and the Uu 2 is doing well… oh and uh… the uh… YCube 720 is… uh… uh… uh…"

Ferb just rolled his eyes in annoyance at this.

"And isn't today a nice day… let's get out and build something more impressive than an infinite bendy straw and bends in anyway you want it to bend. Maybe like… uh… armor or uh… swords and staffs… or katanas! Yea, let's build a uh… super strong katana and… uh… be samurai! Go go samurai and all that jazz!"

Ferb's agitation at his step-brother's attempt at stalling was slowly growing and he felt like he needed to punch his lights out and make him get to the point.

"Katanas and uh… uh… umm… oh… 'stall' is a word derived from Proto-Germanic through Old and Middle English meaning 'standing' or 'position', and possibly derived from a Proto-Indo-European word meaning—"

"Enough! Your attempt to stall by giving an etymology for the wrong sense of 'stall' is falling substantially short of being even minutely effective. All it has done is kill many minutes that you should have been using practicing your dance skills for the tournament I convinced Isabella to enter you in."

"How… on Earth… did you do that?" Phineas protested.

No response escaped from Ferb's lips at all, the silence cutting through the air like a knife through butter.

"So… uh… oranges and lemons? Wanna try mixing them?" Phineas offered.

* * *

As soon as Phineas knew it, he was standing outside the house and was locked out. Before he could attempt to use the key kept underneath the doormat, he saw the security system that he and Ferb had built turned on and was aiming blasters right at him.

"Okay… I'm going!" Phineas shouted as he walked off. However, a thought struck him as he turned around to the house. Suddenly, the security got even stronger with even more blasters, bombs, mines, the whole nine yards.

-GO!- yelled the intercom.

"Uh… wh-wh-where am I supposed to go?" Phineas asked his step-brother meekly.

It then dawned on Ferb he actually didn't tell him where he was supposed to go. He proceeded to turn off the security system, open the door, and order Phineas to go to the dance hall downtown.

"But—"

Ferb promptly shut the door and quickly reactivated the security system, leaving Phineas no other option but to dance with his former friend in her prized competition.

* * *

"Flynn…" Isabella commented as she watched Phineas walk over.

"Um… hi," Phineas meekly responded.

The raven-haired dance master walked on over and just took a moment to glare at him. The glare persisted for more than a brief moment before she let out a slight sigh and made her immediate intentions clear to her reluctant pupil. "Let's just get this over with so I don't need to see your annoying triangle-shaped head ever again."

"Alright," Phineas nodded as Isabella turned on a soundtrack. "We are… dancing…"

"Go ahead and show me what you can do,"

Phineas gave a nervous nod as he attempted to dance, only to fail horribly. "Out of practice," he guessed.

"I'm doomed," Isabella groaned as she buried her face into her palms.

"Well, excuse me for forgetting how to dance!"

"You are such an idiot," Isabella groaned. "Since Ferb left me no choice, guess I have to help you learn how to tango."

Phineas simply nodded in response to this. Resigned to being her dance partner, he owed to his brother to at least put in an honest effort.

Thus Isabella began the arduous effort to teach Phineas how to dance again. The two had, for the most part, refused to speak to each other as they trained together. The whole situation was stressful for both.

Soon after the lengthy week of training commenced, Ferb and Candace began to watch the two practice and observed just how they were treating each other.

"What happened to them?" Ferb couldn't help but say aloud. Candace, having no idea of her own to share, could only shrug in response. Ferb rolled his eyes and sighed before noting that it was only a rhetorical question.

By Tuesday, Isabella finally started to see the fruits of her labor. "You're getting… passable, at least," Isabella commented, "but you'll need to be more than just passable."

"Had a feeling," Phineas sighed as he began to put in more effort and energy into it.

Isabella watched in relative amazement and couldn't help but blush a tiny bit at how skilled he was able to get within such a short amount of time. "Not bad, Flynn," she observed. "We'll need you to be on your complete I Game."

"I Game?"

"Isabella Game. Something beyond even A Game."

"I getcha."

Isabella giggled a bit in response, her smile evident as Phineas started to head off. "See you around, Isabella," Phineas bid as he, Ferb, and Candace left.

Candace saw something distinct in Isabella's expression, which she took to mean only one possible thing. Naturally, her next move was to inform Phineas that "She is _so_ falling for you again."

Phineas' eyes widened in response to her bluntness before he rolled said eyes and told her, "Yeah, right! She has hated me for _how_ many years now? I would sooner bet that the sun wouldn't rise tomorrow than bet she's falling for me again!"

His green-haired step-brother simply stared at him for a bit, but whether it was out of exasperation or annoyance was impossible to tell.

* * *

Once he was out of sight, Isabella sat down, took a breath, and started dreaming about winning the contest. She soon realized, however, that all she could think about was Phineas. She let out a small sigh about the fact they had been arguing for so many years. Whatever it was, it was clearly petty, but it did significant damage to their friendship. Such severe damage, she never thought it could be repaired.

But she started thinking of him, not in terms of a broken friendship, but in the ways she used to. Those ways she saw him back when they were friends, and those thoughts of wanting even more than that. In that moment, she finally conceded what she had once thought, what she never thought she could feel about him ever again, was what she always still felt deep inside, and what she felt more strongly than ever in this moment.

 _I'm falling in love with him all over again._

* * *

That's it for chapter 1. I make no promises for when the second chapter will be posted, but I hope it will be before next Christmas.

Please review. Apparently, I can't expect people to do that on their own. Also, please check out Pikatwig's work. He does plenty of fan-fics on stuff like _My Little Pony_ , _Sonic the Hedgehog_ , and _Yo-Kai Watch_ , if you're at all interested in any of those. He's also much, much more active than I am or ever will be. Apparently, he can write 10,000-word stories in two days, just to illustrate my point.

Until later, Happy Holidays!


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